


Listening In

by magnetohmy



Series: Love In the Temporal Zone [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fake Science, Fluff and Humor, Multi, The Princess Bride References, temporary superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-02 02:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15786684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetohmy/pseuds/magnetohmy
Summary: Ray gives himself temporary super hearing and discovers things about his teammates in the process.





	Listening In

Ray was absolutely, 100% sure of what he was doing. 

 

Okay, 70%.

 

50%?

 

No, more like 20%.

 

Well, maybe he didn’t know at all, but he had some confidence in his abilities to not completely blow up the ship. Professor Stein had declined to help him, saying he had a headache and was going to take a nap.

 

Ray had come up with the idea to create a serum that would give people temporary Meta Human powers, and had progressed enough to start actually developing it. If he managed to succeed, this would change the world. If he failed, probably nothing would happen. Just another day in science.

 

Holding up a tube of greyish-green liquid, Ray swirled it around. This was all he’d been working towards? It looked very underwhelming.

 

“Gideon? What’s the effectiveness of this serum?”

 

“ _ If you intend to test it on yourself, there is an approximately 85% chance of your creation working, Dr. Palmer. _ ” Gideon replied, voice sounding from nowhere as usual.

 

“And what’s the other 15%?” 

 

“ _ A slow and painful death. In the event that this should be the case, I will alert the rest of the crew to your condition and hope that they arrive in time to save you. _ ” 

 

Ray made a face, not wanting to picture his own potential demise. “Thanks Gideon. I think.”

 

“ _ You’re welcome Dr. Palmer. _ ” Gideon sounded smug.

 

Ray uncapped the tube and steeled himself for what he was about to do, then squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed the contents in one go. It tasted like super glue smelled and had the consistency of a raw oyster. Ray breathed deeply and willed himself not to cough it all back up, leaning against the lab table. He couldn’t tell if anything had happened.

 

Then, there was a very sharp, sudden noise in his left ear, that sounded like the crushing of a soda can amplified a million times. Ray let out a yelp of pain and clapped a hand to the side of his face, trying to figure out what that had been. 

 

“Are you okay, Ray?” Sara’s voice said, as clearly as though she was right next to him.

 

Ray whirled around to see her standing in the doorway, a good ten feet away. He nodded vigorously, air rushing in his ears like the wind totem had just been activated in his head. “I’m fine.”

 

“Okay. Just making sure.” Sara departed, not looking convinced.

 

Ray flopped into a chair and rubbed his temples. So the serum must have done something, but what? It wasn’t until he heard a glass falling to the floor, smashing into a gazillion pieces and Zari swearing under her breath as clear as day that he figured it out. The serum had given him super hearing.

 

His first instinct was to be ecstatic that his experiment had worked. His second was to wonder how long this would last. If he’d really screwed up, he might have this power forever.

 

“Hey Gideon? It worked, I think. Do you know how long it’s going to last?”

 

“ _ Unfortunately no, Dr. Palmer. I have taken the precaution of starting a timer when you drank the serum. _ ” Ray winced, Gideon’s voice was so much louder than usual. Or rather, he was hearing it louder than usual.

 

“Well then, I should just sit back and wait I guess.”

 

“ _ That would be advisable. _ ”

 

Ray leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He had a lot of problems sitting still and doing nothing for long periods of time. Closing his eyes, Ray realised he could hear popcorn popping from the direction of the galley. He zeroed in on that, listening to the kernels being pouring into a bowl, the scrape of the bowl being picked up and what sounded like Zari walking away. 

 

He heard a door open, and Amaya’s voice said, “Did you pop that yourself?”

 

“It tastes better this way.” Zari replied, presumably sitting down, judging by the soft sound of cushions moving. 

 

“It does.”

 

“Which movie are we crossing off our list tonight?”

 

“I thought we could try the Princess Bride. Even Mick likes it.”

 

“Mick likes something that isn’t food, fire or his rat? That’s a miracle.”

 

“I don’t know if miracle is the right word. Gideon, can you play the movie please?”

 

Ray smiled at the very familiar start of the Princess Bride and listened for a while longer, hearing only movie noise and the crunching of popcorn. 

 

There was no talking for a good fifteen minutes, until Amaya said, “Could you pass the popcorn, Zari?”

 

“As you wish.” Zari responded, supposedly handing the bowl over.

 

After a moment of silence, Amaya laughed, followed by what sounded like a kiss. “Love you too.” 

 

Ray blushed and opened his eyes, figuring he shouldn’t intrude on their movie night date any longer. He sat for a little while longer before getting bored and wondering what else he could hear. Closing his eyes again, Ray caught the strains of Sara’s voice, coming from the other side of the ship. 

 

“...I know he’s trying, god love him, but sometimes it’s just not enough, you know?”

 

“Oh I know.” That was definitely Ava. But she wasn’t on board was she?

 

“Enough about my problems. How are your problems?”

 

Ava snorted, and now Ray could tell they must have been having a video chat conversation. “The usual. Relocated a ninja from medieval France back to his own time, did a whole week’s paperwork in four hours, rescued Gary from getting eaten by an enchanted washing machine. Just boring work stuff.”

“Sounds like you’re pretty busy.”

 

“I’m never too busy to talk to you.”

 

“I have the best girlfriend in the world. How did I get so lucky?”

 

“I ask myself the same question all the time.”

 

Ray couldn’t help letting out a squeal over how cute their little exchange was. Getting to see the romantic and sensitive side of Ava was rather eye opening. Like to the fact that she had a romantic and sensitive side.

 

Ava was talking again and Ray silenced himself to listen.

 

“Did Director Hunter already tell you about those unusual blips we’ve been seeing on scans of the temporal zone?”

 

Sara shifted in her seat, probably leaning forward. “No. Is it anything we should be watching out for?”

 

“Nobody is quite sure what they are yet, so I’d say don’t worry but do keep your guard up. Although knowing you, it was already up.”

 

“It was indeed, you’re very smart.”

 

“I’d have to be to have picked you.”

 

Sara chuckled. “Any chance you can come by after work?”

 

“Probably not. I don’t like to leave before Gary and Director Hunter have.”

 

“I understand completely.”

 

Their conversation turned back towards the goings on of the Time Bureau and Ray started to zone out. Even the prospect of more adorable flirting couldn’t hold his interest. Casting around for something else to listen to, Ray could have sworn he heard the sound of a typewriter.

 

Casting his ear around the ship, Ray find the noise was coming from Mick’s quarters. Mick owning a typewriter seemed weird. Mick actually using a typewriter seemed even weirder. Up until Ray had seen him with glasses on and nose in a book, he wasn’t even sure Mick could read. 

 

The clacking of keys ceased and Ray heard what was clearly Mick’s voice mutter, “Damn. Spelled shimmering wrong.” Followed by the sound of paper ripping and being replaced. 

 

The clacking resumed, this time with Mick narrating. “ _ Buck looked at the man dressed all in fur. Despite the sweltering heat produced by the two suns, he didn’t seem to feel it, not so much of a drop of sweat visible on his pale face. The stranger’s gaze raised to Buck’s, his blue eyes shimmering with tears. _ ” Another pause in the typing noises. “Blue. Not good enough. What’s another word for blue?”

 

Ray flinched at a loud thunk that sounded like a very large book landing on a wooden surface, followed by the rapid flipping of pages.

 

“Blue, blue, blue. Azure, cobalt, indigo… The hell’s a cornflower?” A drawn out pause followed by a very angry “Why ‘m I askin’ you, you’re a rat?”

 

Ray giggled. It sounded like Mick was writing a book, and working out details by talking to his pet rat. How weirdly adorable. Ray decided to move on. If he heard anymore, it’d probably spoil the end product, which was something Ray really wanted to read. When it was finished of course.

 

Then, almost unbidden, Ray heard another voice. It was definitely Nate, coming from the direction of the library. Ray almost had to strain to hear, maybe the serum was wearing off.

 

“Sub-sub-captains log. Stardate; who even knows anymore.” Nate sighed through his nose. “I had that dream again. The one where I’m walking down a hallway and never seem to get to the end, but I can see my father standing there, waiting for me. But this time there was something else. I had Ray next to me, and when he smiled the hallway lit up, and I could see that it wasn’t my dad, just a scarecrow. I don’t think I’ll have that dream anymore.”

 

Another break and what sounded like the squeak of a chair being tilted back onto two legs.

 

“Speaking of Ray, he’s letting his hair get long. Mick thinks it looks dumb but I like it. I guess I like everything Ray does though. More than like if I’m going to be honest. Might as well, since no one will ever hear this.”

 

Ray immediately felt guilty. He should stop listening… but then how would he know what Nate was going to say next?

 

“He’s just… perfect. Everything Ray does is perfect. He’s smart and funny and hot, downright gorgeous really, and he’s practically the nicest person on planet Earth. I guess I could say I love him. There’s no chance though. No chance of him loving me back. At least, not as anything more than a friend.”

 

At almost that exact moment, Ray stopped hearing his voice, replaced by the gentle hum of the ship and the quiet of the lab.

 

“The serum wore off, Gideon.” Ray announced into the silence.

 

“ _ 30 minutes, 36 seconds Dr. Palmer. _ ” Gideon replied.

 

“Okay. Thanks.”

 

Ray sat in the chair for a little while longer, staring at the floor. Then, taking a deep breath and making up his mind, he stood up. “Hey Gideon? Where’s Nate right now?” 

 

“ _ Dr. Heywood is in the library. _ ”

 

Ray exited the lab and marched straight to the library. The door opened for him and Nate looked up from a book laid out on the table. Ray noticed an old fashioned tape recorder sitting in front of him. 

 

“Hi Ray. Do you need the library? I can leave if you-"

 

Ray strode over, pulled Nate to his feet and kissed him. Nate froze for a moment, then melted into Ray, throwing his arms around his neck and kissing him back. They pulled away from each other once the cliche fireworks and romantic music had stopped playing in their heads.

 

“Dude, what was that for?” Nate asked, looking up into Ray’s face with a goofy grin.

 

Ray smiled back fondly and kissed him again. “I might have overheard you talking about me.”

 

Nate looked embarrassed. “Guess I should have been recording in my room.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. I liked what I heard. I mean, obviously, or we wouldn’t be doing this.” Ray gestured as best he could with his arms full of Nate.

 

“True. Maybe I should say personal secrets out loud more often.”

 

“Maybe so. You never know when someone might be listening in.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was written over a period of two weeks so it jumps around a little quickly and is much shorter than I intended. That being said, it was fun to write.
> 
> magnetohmy.tumblr.com


End file.
